


A tiny bag of worry

by JungleKarmaPippa



Category: Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Genre: Gen, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29965512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JungleKarmaPippa/pseuds/JungleKarmaPippa
Summary: Casey, Theo and Lily are cleaning the loft. RJ apparently has many bags of secrets stashed around.
Comments: 2





	A tiny bag of worry

RJ was in the kitchen, slicing a cucumber. He was trying to get the slices as thin as possible, so he was doing the task with his usual focus and intention. 

He didn’t know what his students were doing, but they were making a lot of noise. He could hear them thumping and stomping all over the loft, over his head. 

He heard steps thundering down the stairs. 

“RJ!” Casey called angrily as he came down. 

RJ couldn’t remember having done anything in particular to make him mad, at least not that day, and wondered what was going on. 

“Yes?” He asked from the table. 

Casey made his way to him and put a small plastic bag filled with grinded leaves in front of him. “What’s this?” The tiger asked. 

RJ found himself staring at one of his many bags of pot, right there under the stark kitchen light. “Where did you find that?” He asked, trying not to look at Casey. 

“Where you left it.” 

“You’re going to have to be more specific.” 

Casey looked at him, his mouth open and his brow so furrowed his eyebrows had turned into one. “There’s more?!” 

RJ tried not to smile or nod. “Where did you find it?” 

“In one of your trophies,”, Casey answered. 

RJ returned to his cucumber. “Well, put it back where you found it.” 

“RJ…” Casey started but RJ kept slicing. “RJ!” 

RJ took a deep breath and put down the knife. “What is it, Case?” 

“Is this…” Casey didn’t seem to want to say the word. “pot?” RJ nodded but said nothing. “You use this?” 

RJ took the bag from the table. “Yes.” Casey remained silent and RJ put the bag in his pocket. “Why were you looking inside my trophies?” 

That seemed to derail Casey’s train of thought for a bit. “We are doing a deep cleaning of the loft, it was Theo’s idea.” 

“Oh! I see! Well, if… when you find more pot, please put it back where you find it, okay?” He moved to pick up the knife again but Casey grabbed his wrist. 

“Why do you… use that?” He asked. “For fun?” 

“It actually provides a lot of health benefits, Casey.” RJ said, softly getting his wrist out of Casey’s grip. “It’s relaxing and it helps with the pain and it’s great for sleeping.” 

“Why do you need it?” Casey asked again. “Sleeping?” 

“Some nights.” 

Casey remained silent and RJ returned to his cucumber. “I know it’s not an excuse, but I never use it for fun. It just helps me sometimes, with things.” 

“I mean, we had the joke that you were always high… we didn’t know you really were.” 

“I assure you neither you nor any of your teammates have ever seen me high.” 

“You use it when we are not watching.” 

“I never use enough of it to get properly high, Casey.” 

“Are we… are we causing you to need it?” 

RJ didn’t answer immediately. He finished slicing the cucumber, put the knife on the chopping table and dried his hands with a towel. He swallowed twice, took a deep breath and then, finally, looked at Casey. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “But it’s not really you. I mean, it’s nothing that you guys do.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“It’s okay, Case. I’ve been smoking pot for a long time, long before I met you. I’m the kind of person who just can’t let it go. If something’s not working, if something’s gone wrong, if I have an idea that I think I should explore, I can’t let it go. I can’t set it aside and go to sleep and pick it up in the morning. I have to solve it or see it through, it’s got nothing to do with you, it’s just the way I work, it’s the way I was raised to think. And I worry. I know it doesn’t look like it, Case, but I worry a lot.” 

“About us? Because of Dai Shi?” 

“About you, about Dai Shi, about the Pai Zhua, about JKP, about Fran, about the world, about stray cats… I just worry. And my training is hard and rigorous, much more than yours. I hurt myself. My muscles just… it gets to a point where they just can’t keep doing their thing and I fall down, or overdo things. It’s not you, well, it’s not just you.” 

“You could, I don’t know, talk to us.” 

RJ sighed. “A lot of things have been set into motion so that you can’t see them. That’s the whole point.” 

“What is?” 

“That you can’t see them.” RJ turned to put the cucumber slices in a bowl. “thanks for cleaning the loft, it is greatly appreciated. Like I said, when you find more pot, just leave it where you find it.” 

“Drugs can’t be the only answer.” Casey whispered. 

RJ smirked. “They’re not.” 

“Do you have something like… a support system? People you can turn to?” 

RJ smiled. Casey looked genuinely worried, over a bag of pot. That meant he was doing his job just fine. “I’m alright, Casey. You don’t have to worry about me.” 

Casey didn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure? Is there anything we can do to make things easier for you?” 

“Just keep doing your thing, as best as you can.” 

Casey went back upstairs and RJ returned to his recipe. His mask of peace and relaxation had slipped, for a little bit, for merely a second, but it had been enough. 

He’d have to change all of his pot stashes to different locations and find a way to keep his students from worrying about him. He was not what they were supposed to worry about. 

And he never would be.


End file.
